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Empires and conquest 1500 to 1800

Wills, successions and estate fights from 1500 to 1800, newest first.

185 stories3D timeline

How were estates passed on, 1500 to 1800?

A trust that projects returns two centuries ahead should say what happens when its original purpose disappears. A document that does not meet the formal signing rule invites challenge for as long as anyone gains from it.

Stories
185
Main regions
Europe, East Asia, Latin America
Main subjects
Explorers, Native nations and islands, Literature and art
Legal traditions
Civil law, Common law
Updated
30 October 2026

Every story, 1500 to 1800

  1. 1799Washington's will freed 123 people, his heir sold 54 more, and the family sold Mount Vernon for $200,000founders.archives.gov and 3 more
  2. 1799The British army broke up Tipu Sultan's gold throne to divide as prize money; his sword sold for £14 million in 2023 while descendants pulled rickshawsnam.ac.uk and 6 more
  3. 1799China's new emperor arrested his father's favourite five days after the old emperor died, let him hang himself, and seized a fortune put at up to 800 million taelsWikisource (primary text) and 3 more
  4. 1798William Jennens died with an unsigned will in his pocket, and claimants fought over his fortune until 1915Journal article (DOI) and 5 more
  5. 1798Napoleon took Malta from the Knights in three days in 1798, his flagship blew up with the island's treasure by legend, and Malta gave the Order part of its old fort back in 2001Project Gutenberg and 4 more
  6. 1797Peter Thellusson locked his fortune away for three generations, and Parliament changed the law to stop anyone copying himlbs.ucl.ac.uk and 3 more
  7. 1797Horace Walpole's Strawberry Hill collection was sold off over 24 days in 1842 after heirs spent the family fortuneThe Guardian and 1 more
  8. 1796Chica da Silva, born enslaved, made a will naming 14 children as heirs and divided enslaved people among themtjmg.jus.br and 1 more
  9. 1796Catherine the Great tried to pass over her son Paul for the throne, and Paul made a law that no ruler could choose an heir againru.wikisource.org and 2 more
  10. 1796Burma took Ayutthaya's former king prisoner in 1767, and in 2013 a Thai team dug up the tomb said to hold his ashesthesiamsociety.org and 2 more
  11. 1796Robert Burns's widow died in 1834, and local men opened his tomb at night to cast his skull for a phrenologistProject Gutenberg and 3 more
  12. 1795A doctor stole the heart of the boy king Louis XVII, and DNA in 2000 ended 200 years of impostorsJournal article (DOI) and 1 more
  13. 1794The Revolution guillotined Lavoisier and seized his notebooks, and his widow fought until she got back the property and nearly all his papersnews.cornell.edu and 2 more
  14. 1793The Revolution auctioned Versailles's furniture in 17,000 lots, and a top expert was convicted in 2025 of forging royal chairs for the buy-back marketThe Art Newspaper and 6 more
  15. 1793Legend says a monk cursed the family given Battle Abbey's lands to end by fire and water; in 1793 Cowdray burned and its young owner drowned in the Rhine within weekscowdray.co.uk and 3 more
  16. 1792Portugal's 1792 sentence declared Tiradentes's children and grandchildren infamous, and Brazil later paid pensions to people who said they descended from himpt.wikisource.org and 3 more
  17. 1792Gia Long dug up the Tây Sơn emperors in 1802, pounded their bones and locked their skulls in a prisonzh.wikisource.org and 3 more
  18. 1791Mozart's widow passed off a Requiem finished by his student as his own and sold it twicedme.mozarteum.at and 2 more
  19. 1790Benjamin Franklin left Boston and Philadelphia £1,000 each for 200 years, and his heirs, a school and the state fought over itCaselaw Access Project, Harvard Law School and 2 more
  20. 1788The House of Lords convicted the Duchess of Kingston of bigamy, and she left England with the Duke's fortuneWikisource (primary text) and 4 more
  21. 1783Charles Byrne arranged to be buried at sea to escape the anatomists, and John Hunter got his body and displayed his skeleton for 200 yearsThe Irish Times and 2 more
  22. 1782Kalaniʻōpuʻu left Hawaiʻi Island to his son and the war god to his nephew Kamehameha, and the chiefs who got no land started the war that made Kamehameha kingInternet Archive and 2 more
  23. 1782General Chakri took Taksin's throne in 1782 while Taksin's son and heir was away at war, and dug up Taksin's body two years latervajirayana.org and 5 more
  24. 1781Virginia confiscated Lord Fairfax's Northern Neck, and his heir's land claim reached the Supreme Court twiceCornell Law School, LII and 5 more
  25. 1781A Cuzco chief sued for four years to be recognised as the last Inca's heir, then led the 1780 rebellion with the case still undecidedrevistas.pucp.edu.pe and 3 more
  26. 1779Captain Cook's body was returned in pieces, and his widow outlived all six children and destroyed his letters before she died in 1835register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk and 6 more
  27. 1779Hawaiʻi's ruling chief put his feather cloak on Captain Cook in 1779, and it took 237 years and a New Zealand museum to bring it homeSmithsonian Magazine and 2 more
  28. 1778The future Rama I took the Emerald Buddha from conquered Vientiane, and it has stayed in Bangkok for two centuriesvajirayana.org and 2 more
  29. 1778Voltaire was refused a Paris burial in 1778, buried in secret, moved to the Panthéon in 1791 with his heart kept apart, and a legend says his bones were thrown away in 1814jackboulware.substack.com and 3 more
  30. 1776John Harrison solved longitude at sea, the Board of Longitude withheld the £20,000 prize, and his son took the case to the kingRoyal Museums Greenwich and 2 more
  31. 1775A Bengali official accused Warren Hastings of bribery, was charged weeks later with forging a dead banker's bond, and was hanged under an English statuteWikisource (primary text) and 2 more
  32. 1775The Pope suppressed the Jesuits in 1773 and their Superior General died a prisoner in Castel Sant'Angelo, declaring the Society innocentnewadvent.org and 3 more
  33. 1774Ivan VI's brothers and sisters were born in prison, held at Kholmogory for 36 years, and sent to Denmark in 1780 on a Russian pensionru.wikisource.org and 4 more
  34. 1773Raghunathrao's men killed the 17-year-old Peshwa in his palace, his widow bore a son who took the throne back, and Pune says the boy still cries for his unclelivehistoryindia.com and 2 more
  35. 1771Lord Baltimore was acquitted of rape in 1768, left Maryland to his illegitimate son in 1771, and the son lost it to the RevolutionMaryland State Archives and 6 more
  36. 1770William Beckford inherited a Jamaican sugar fortune at 10, built Fonthill Abbey, and sold it before its tower felllbs.ucl.ac.uk and 3 more
  37. 1767Spain opened sealed orders in every Jesuit town on one night in 1767, seized the order's property, and the Pope's cannon turned the exiles' ships awaynewadvent.org and 2 more
  38. 1764Jamaica granted Cudjoe's Maroons 1,500 acres by treaty in 1739, then shipped them to Nova Scotia in 1796 and auctioned the landnlj.gov.jm and 3 more
  39. 1764Russia's infant emperor Ivan VI was deposed at 15 months, held prisoner for 23 years, and killed by his guards under standing orders in 1764Wikisource (primary text) and 3 more
  40. 1764Jean-Marie Leclair was found stabbed three times at his Paris door in October 1764, and his ex-wife sold his belongings and unpublished musicinterlude.hk and 2 more
  41. 1763The Jagat Seths financed the British at Plassey; six years later the Nawab had the two heads of the bank killed and their bodies thrown from a forten.banglapedia.org and 2 more
  42. 1762King Yeongjo locked his heir in a rice chest until he died, and the heir's son became king and moved the body into a new fortressencykorea.aks.ac.kr and 4 more
  43. 1760An uncle shipped his 12-year-old nephew to America as a servant to take the Anglesey titles, and a Dublin jury found for the nephew in 1743Internet Archive and 2 more
  44. 1760Kent inherited his dead lover's money, and her "ghost" accused him of poisoning her; a London jury convicted the ghost's handlers in 1762Project Gutenberg and 2 more
  45. 1757Admiral John Byng was shot under the Articles of War, his family kept his estate, and no pardon has been grantedRoyal Museums Greenwich and 3 more
  46. 1747Nader Shah's Indian jewels cost his blind grandson his life under torture, and a deposed shah took them into the Russian legationiranicaonline.org and 2 more
  47. 1741Okiku broke one of ten heirloom dishes, was killed and thrown into a well, and Himeji Castle still shows the welledizionicafoscari.it and 2 more
  48. 1741Antonio Vivaldi was buried in Vienna for 19 florins 45 kreuzer, and his manuscripts were sold off, then found at a school in 1926finestresullarte.info and 2 more
  49. 1738Descendants of a 1640s settler sued Trinity Church for downtown Manhattan, and courts ruled the church's 230 years of possession beat their claimCaselaw Access Project, Harvard Law School and 3 more
  50. 1738Württemberg hanged Joseph Süß Oppenheimer in a cage in 1738 and auctioned his property months before the verdictdeutschlandmuseum.de and 5 more
  51. 1737The last Medici left the Florentine Diamond to Tuscany, the Habsburgs took it to Vienna, and it surfaced in a Quebec bank vault in 2025theglobeandmail.com and 4 more
  52. 1736Parliament confiscated South Sea director Edward Gibbon's £106,543 in 1721 and left him £10,000; he rebuilt the fortune and willed it past his sonProject Gutenberg and 3 more
  53. 1727Moulay Ismail of Morocco died in 1727 with hundreds of sons, and his army made and unmade sultans for thirty yearsjournals.plos.org and 5 more
  54. 1727Isaac Newton died without a will, and his heirs held his alchemy and theology papers for 209 years before selling them for £9,000newtonproject.ox.ac.uk and 2 more
  55. 1726Dorothy Walpole married the man her father forbade, died of smallpox at Raynham in 1726, and became the Brown Lady photographed on its stairs in 1936derehamtimes.co.uk and 2 more
  56. 1724Thomas Guy sold his South Sea stock at the top of the 1720 bubble and left the profit to found Guy's Hospitalkingspast.kcl.ac.uk and 2 more
  57. 1722Marlborough's £5,000 Post Office pension was paid to his heirs for 178 years, and Blenheim's builders went unpaid in 1712UK Parliament, Hansard and 3 more
  58. 1722The Kangxi Emperor deposed his heir twice, and the son who followed him hid the next heir's name behind a palace plaquezh.wikisource.org and 4 more
  59. 1721Edward Colston's charities carried his name for 300 years, until protesters threw his statue in Bristol harbourCourts and Tribunals Judiciary and 3 more
  60. 1718William Penn went to debtors' prison while he owned Pennsylvania, and his heirs later traded 24 million acres for £130,000 and a £4,000 British annuitybedsarchivescat.bedford.gov.uk and 11 more
  61. 1718Peter the Great had his son tortured to death, changed the law so he could pick any heir, and died without naming oneWikipedia (English) and 1 more
  62. 1716The child shogun died in 1716 and the Tokugawa main line ended, so a branch lord whose three elder brothers had died took the titlekotobank.jp and 3 more
  63. 1716The Earl of Derwentwater was beheaded in 1716, Parliament gave his estates to Greenwich Hospital, and in 1868 a woman calling herself his heir moved into the ruined castlenorthumberlandarchives.com and 4 more
  64. 1715Louis XIV's will gave power to his illegitimate son, and the Paris Parlement annulled it the day after he diedWikipedia (English) and 1 more
  65. 1714The Ottomans beheaded Prince Constantin Brâncoveanu and his four sons in Istanbul in 1714 after four months of torture over his fortuneadevarul.ro and 4 more
  66. 1710Christopher Codrington willed his Barbados plantations to a Church of England missionary society, which held enslaved people on them from 1710 to 1836Wikisource (primary text) and 3 more
  67. 1708The galleon San José sank off Cartagena in 1708 with nearly 600 people, and Colombia, Spain, a US salvage company and a Bolivian people all claim its cargomaritime-executive.com and 3 more
  68. 1707Aurangzeb was buried under a plain stone as he willed, and his sons fought for the throne; one said "a throne or a bier"Internet Archive and 1 more
  69. 1705The shogunate confiscated Osaka's richest merchant house in 1705 for living beyond its stationkotobank.jp and 2 more
  70. 1704Danjūrō I was stabbed to death in his dressing room by a rival actor, and his 15-year-old son took the name that is now in its 13th generationkabuki21.com and 3 more
  71. 1703The Habsburg state owed Samuel Oppenheimer millions when he died in 1703; it declared his firm bankrupt and his estate was auctioned in 1763deutsche-biographie.de and 4 more
  72. 1703Robert Hooke said he would endow the Royal Society, died without a will, and cousins he barely knew took the moneymathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk and 2 more
  73. 1701The shogunate confiscated Lord Asano's 53,000-koku domain the day he drew his sword, and his retainers waited 21 months to take revengekotobank.jp and 3 more
  74. 1701Captain Kidd buried treasure on Gardiners Island to bargain for a pardon, and the governor who had backed his voyage dug it upEncyclopaedia Britannica and 2 more
  75. 1700Spain's childless Charles II left his whole empire to a French prince in his will, and Europe went to war for 13 yearsWikipedia (English) and 1 more
  76. 1694Mitsui's 1722 house code barred any branch from dividing or selling its share, and the US occupation took the families' property in 1946archive.dartmouthalumnimagazine.com and 3 more
  77. 1693The Sabarna Roy Choudhury family sold three villages to the East India Company in 1698, and their descendants won a 2003 ruling that Job Charnock did not found Kolkatatribuneindia.com and 3 more
  78. 1692Salem pressed Giles Corey to death under stones for refusing a jury trial, and his land went to his sons-in-law under a will he had already signedsalem.lib.virginia.edu and 3 more
  79. 1688Henry Morgan left his plantations and 131 enslaved people to his wife and nephews, and four years later his grave went under the sealbs.ucl.ac.uk and 3 more
  80. 1683The Chamberlen family kept the obstetric forceps secret for over a century, and their instruments were found hidden in the family house two centuries laterdaily.jstor.org and 3 more
  81. 1682Tibet's regent hid the Fifth Dalai Lama's death for 15 years; a Mongol khan later deposed the Sixth and put his own candidate in the Potalatricycle.org and 2 more
  82. 1680Louis XIV jailed Fouquet for life 19 days after his party at Vaux-le-Vicomte, and in 2019 robbers tied up its 90-year-old owner with his own necktiesthelocal.fr and 5 more
  83. 1680Pierre-Paul Riquet spent his fortune on the Canal du Midi, died eight months before it opened, and left his heirs the canal and its debtsstructurae.net and 3 more
  84. 1677A Falun copper miner vanished in 1677, his body came out of the mine 42 years later, his old fiancée named him, and he was put on showsok.riksarkivet.se and 2 more
  85. 1677The Earl of Arundel's heir went insane in Padua, his younger brothers fought over the family settlement, and the case created the rule against perpetuitieslegislation.gov.uk and 4 more
  86. 1676Plymouth put Metacom's head on a pole for about 20 years and sold his wife and nine-year-old son into slaveryapps.lib.umich.edu and 3 more
  87. 1675Vermeer died with 11 children and debts; his widow paid creditors in paintings and petitioned for bankruptcyWikipedia (English) and 1 more
  88. 1673Molière died in 1673 after collapsing in his own play; priests refused him last rites, and Louis XIV allowed a night burialEncyclopaedia Britannica and 2 more
  89. 1666Mughal prince Aurangzeb jailed his father for eight years and executed his brother to take the throneWikipedia (English) and 1 more
  90. 1665Elisabetta Sirani died at 27 in Bologna in 1665; her father charged the maid with poisoning her and then withdrew the chargetheflorentine.net and 3 more
  91. 1664A Sikh guru disinherited his elder son for changing one verse for Aurangzeb, and rival claimants sat at Bakala waiting to be namedsrigurugranthsahib.org and 4 more
  92. 1662Koxinga ordered his heir and his own wife killed over a child born to a wet nurse, and died before his generals obeyedzh.wikisource.org and 3 more
  93. 1661France sold its crown jewels in 1887 to stop a king returning; the Louvre bought one back for €6.72 million, and thieves took it in eight minutes in 2025gia.edu and 6 more
  94. 1658England dug up Oliver Cromwell, hanged his corpse and put his head on a pole, and collectors sold the head for 300 years until a college buried it in secret in 1960olivercromwell.org and 2 more
  95. 1651Bhutan's founder died in 1651, and his officials kept the death secret for 54 years while issuing orders in his namecountrystudies.us and 2 more
  96. 1648A Dutch water board still pays interest on dike bonds sold in 1638 and 1648, and Yale collected 12 years of it in 2015coinbooks.org and 2 more
  97. 1648The last male of the Ottoman house would not leave his room when told he was sultan, and eight years later his mother agreed to his depositionislamansiklopedisi.org.tr and 1 more
  98. 1642Saskia's will let Rembrandt use their son's inheritance only if he never remarried, and he lived unmarried and went bankruptassets.cambridge.org and 4 more
  99. 1642The Church refused Galileo a tomb for 95 years, and when his body was moved in 1737 admirers cut off three fingers and a tootharchive.archaeology.org and 2 more
  100. 1641Legend: Domenichino died in Naples in April 1641 and was said to have been poisoned by rival painters; the one early biographer cited blames his relativesArtnet News and 3 more
  101. 1636Oiwa's shrine says she and her adopted-heir husband restored the Tamiya fortunes; the 1825 play has him betray her for a richer matchprojects.mcah.columbia.edu and 2 more
  102. 1635Champlain named the Virgin Mary as his heir in 1635; his cousin sued in Paris and the will was annulled in 1639Dictionary of Canadian Biography and 4 more
  103. 1632The House of Lords ruled the Earl of Banbury's sons were not his, and the Knollys family lost the earldom after 152 years of claimsInternet Archive and 2 more
  104. 1629Shah Abbas had one son killed and two blinded, and died with no son able to ruleiranicaonline.org and 2 more
  105. 1627Asaf Khan crowned a Mughal prince to hold the throne for Shah Jahan, and Shah Jahan had him imprisoned and killedInternet Archive and 1 more
  106. 1622Mel Fisher lost his son and daughter-in-law hunting the Atocha, found its main treasure ten years to the day later, and beat Florida in the Supreme CourtCornell Law School, LII and 3 more
  107. 1621The Dutch East India Company executed 44 Banda chiefs in 1621 and gave the nutmeg groves to Dutch planters, and one planter family says it has held its grove for 13 generationsdaily.jstor.org and 3 more
  108. 1620Burton Agnes Hall has passed by inheritance since 1610, and its builder's daughter is said to be bricked into a wallburtonagnes.com and 2 more
  109. 1618James I gave Walter Raleigh's Sherborne estate to his favourite over a missing phrase in a trust deed, and Raleigh's widow kept his embalmed head for 29 yearsSmithsonian Magazine and 5 more
  110. 1617Pocahontas's son inherited Virginia land, and Virginia's 1924 race law made an exception that kept families claiming descent from her legally whiteUS National Park Service and 3 more
  111. 1616Shakespeare left his wife his "second best bed" and struck his new son-in-law out of the willnationalarchives.gov.uk and 3 more
  112. 1616Spain announced in March 2015 that it had found Cervantes among bones of 15 to 17 people in a Madrid convent, with no DNA to confirm itInternet Archive and 3 more
  113. 1613Tokugawa Ieyasu's mine magistrate died rich in 1613, and the shogunate made his seven sons kill themselves and seized everything he ownedmlit.go.jp and 2 more
  114. 1611England's richest commoner left his fortune to a hospital, and his nephew and Francis Bacon tried to break the willthecharterhouse.org and 3 more
  115. 1608King Gwanghae's officials killed his eight-year-old half-brother in exile, and the boy's mother gave her name to the coup that deposed himencykorea.aks.ac.kr and 3 more
  116. 1605Siberia's last khan lost his capital to Cossacks in 1582 and his family to Moscow in 1598; his descendants served the tsars as Princes Sibirskysipec.aoyama.ac.jp and 2 more
  117. 1601Tycho Brahe's heirs were never paid for his observations, so they took them back from Kepler and won the right to censor his bookscambridge.org and 3 more
  118. 1599In Shakespeare's Hamlet, an uncle kills the king, marries the widow and is chosen king over the son, and the crown ends with a foreign princeProject Gutenberg and 3 more
  119. 1598Hideyoshi took over Nobunaga's house by backing a two-year-old heir, and after he died Tokugawa Ieyasu did the same to his own five-year-old sonkotobank.jp and 5 more
  120. 1598Beatrice Cenci and her family killed her father at his castle, Rome beheaded them, and most of the Cenci fortune went to the pope's nephewebsco.com and 2 more
  121. 1596Francis Drake promised his estates to his wife, then signed them to his brother 2 days before dying at sea, and the brother won the lawsuitsbeta.nationalarchives.gov.uk and 7 more
  122. 1596The Inquisition burned the heir to Nuevo León's governorship with his mother and three sisters in 1596, and his stolen memoir went back to Mexico in 2017tshaonline.org and 3 more
  123. 1595Ottoman Sultan Mehmed III had his 19 brothers strangled on the day he took the throneWikipedia (English) and 1 more
  124. 1595Hideyoshi's adopted heir was forced to kill himself after a son was born, and 39 of his wives, children and servants were beheaded in Kyotokyohaku.go.jp and 3 more
  125. 1593Christopher Marlowe was stabbed to death in a Deptford house on 30 May 1593 by a man later pardoned in 28 days, and the inquest record was found in 1925archive.spectator.co.uk and 3 more
  126. 1592Their mother produced a letter naming the younger son, Hideyoshi removed the elder as head of the Honganji, and Ieyasu gave the elder land for a rival temple in Kyotomlit.go.jp and 3 more
  127. 1591Hideyoshi ordered his tea master to kill himself in 1591, and the Sen family won back the name that three tea houses still carrynippon.com and 4 more
  128. 1591Tsarevich Dmitry died at Uglich in 1591, a man using his name took the throne in 1605, and Moscow hanged his widow's small son in 1614Wikisource (primary text) and 5 more
  129. 1583Gaelic law gave Gráinne O'Malley nothing from two husbands, so she sailed to Elizabeth I and won a pension from her sons' landsliverpoolmuseums.org.uk and 2 more
  130. 1581Ivan the Terrible struck his heir on the head in November 1581, and his dynasty ended with his surviving son in 1598ru.wikisource.org and 3 more
  131. 1579Thomas Gresham left London a free college, and Parliament sold the building for a tax office in 1768gresham.ac.uk and 2 more
  132. 1569Gracia Nasi's sister Brianda sued her in Venice for half the Mendes fortune and denounced her as a secret Jewjstor.org and 5 more
  133. 1568On Luther's advice the last Grand Master in Prussia dropped his vows in 1525, made the Order's state his hereditary duchy, and marrieddeutsche-biographie.de and 2 more
  134. 1564Michelangelo's nephew smuggled his body out of Rome to Florence in a bale of goods in March 1564, ahead of the pope's tomb plandailyartmagazine.com and 3 more
  135. 1562Süleyman paid the Shah of Persia to hand back his son Bayezid, who was strangled in Qazvin with his four sonsEncyclopaedia Britannica and 2 more
  136. 1560An impostor lived as Martin Guerre for three years, took his wife and land, and was hanged when the real Martin walked into courtInternet Archive and 3 more
  137. 1560An Inca princess was married to the captain who captured her uncle, their daughter got a Spanish marquisate with the Inca estate of Yucay, and Inca claimants fought for it after the line died outBoletín Oficial del Estado and 4 more
  138. 1560Malinche's daughter sued her father's widow for the encomienda of Xilotepec, citing her mother's service to the Crown in the conquestcambridge.org and 2 more
  139. 1560Burma's king offered a fortune for the Buddha's tooth, Goa's archbishop ground it to powder, and two new teeth appeared within six yearsmanushi.in and 2 more
  140. 1559Chenonceau was taken for a royal debt, taken from a king's mistress by his widow, and auctioned to a bank after its owner's ruinchenonceau.com and 2 more
  141. 1558England made Conn O'Neill's son by a blacksmith's wife his heir, and Conn's son Shane had the heir killedlibraryireland.com and 4 more
  142. 1554The Popol Vuh says twin boys found their dead father's ballgame gear hidden in the roof, and it led them to the lords of the underworld who had killed himmesoweb.com and 1 more
  143. 1553Pedro de Valdivia's wife waited 27 years in Spain, learned on her voyage that he was dead, and the governor married to his former mistress did not pay her pensionmemoriachilena.gob.cl and 3 more
  144. 1553Süleyman had his eldest son Mustafa strangled in the imperial tent in 1553 after his grand vizier produced a letter in the prince's name to the ShahEncyclopaedia Britannica and 2 more
  145. 1552A Nahua healer's 1552 herbal was sent to Spain, passed through a royal pharmacist and a cardinal to the Vatican, and a pope returned it to Mexico in 1990library.csun.edu and 2 more
  146. 1550Pedrarias's grandsons killed the bishop of Nicaragua and raided Panama in 1550 to recover their father's lost wealthProject Gutenberg and 3 more
  147. 1547Henry VIII's will was signed with a stamp, not his hand, and its validity was disputed for 20 yearsdiscovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk and 3 more
  148. 1547Cortés's heir was tried for treason, Mexico seized and sold the estate, and Lucas Alamán hid his bones from 1823 to 1946Boletín Oficial del Estado and 8 more
  149. 1547Andrea Doria's chosen heir was shot at a Genoa gate in the Fieschi coup, the coup's leader drowned in the harbour, and the admiral's fortune passed to an eight-year-oldTreccani and 2 more
  150. 1546Charles V gave the Welser bank Venezuela for its loans, and a Spanish governor had the head of the firm's son killed there in 1546deutsche-biographie.de and 4 more
  151. 1542De Soto's body was sunk in the Mississippi, and his widow governed Cuba and fought his business partner over the estate until 1546 to 1550revistascientificas.us.es and 3 more
  152. 1541Pizarro's daughter and heir married her imprisoned uncle, his skull was found in a lead box in 1977, and Spain reissued his marquisate in 2019Boletín Oficial del Estado and 5 more
  153. 1541Pedro de Alvarado's widow took over his governorship of Guatemala and died in a mudflow two days laterprensalibre.com and 3 more
  154. 1540Ethiopia's emperors held their brothers and sons on Amba Geshen for life until Ahmad ibn Ibrahim's army took the mountain in 1540Project Gutenberg and 2 more
  155. 1539The Inquisition burned a lord of Texcoco in 1539 after his own relatives testified against him, and the map drawn for the fight over his land is in the Library of CongressLibrary of Congress and 4 more
  156. 1538Diego de Almagro willed his governorship of New Toledo to his mestizo son, Pizarro ignored the will, and the son's followers killed Pizarrorevista.agn.gob.pe and 2 more
  157. 1537James V burned Lady Glamis in 1537, took Glamis Castle and its silver, and the legend says she still kneels in the chapelInternet Archive and 4 more
  158. 1537Robert Aske's rebels demanded the repeal of the law that stopped landowners leaving land by will; Aske was hanged in chains, and Henry VIII gave way in 1540familyrecords.awh.durham.ac.uk and 5 more
  159. 1537A 1636 chronicle says the heir of Guatavita fasted six years in a cave and was covered in gold dust to take his uncle's lordship, and the rite gave the world El Doradobiblioteca-antologica.org and 3 more
  160. 1535Henry VIII beheaded Thomas More and took the family's property, and his daughter bribed a man for his head, which a Canterbury parish voted in 2025 to dig upcanterbury-archaeology.org.uk and 4 more
  161. 1530Babur's son Kamran held his infant nephew Akbar on the walls of Kabul under fire, and Humayun had Kamran blindedInternet Archive and 1 more
  162. 1527Atahualpa's captains hanged Huáscar's wives and children on the Cuzco road, burned a dead king's mummy, and killed Huáscar so Pizarro could not free himInternet Archive and 3 more
  163. 1526Elcano was granted 500 ducats a year for the first circumnavigation, was never paid, and left church bequests payable only from what the King owed himaunamendi.eusko-ikaskuntza.eus and 3 more
  164. 1526Count Stephan Schlick minted the first thalers from his silver mine, vanished at Mohács in 1526, and the new king took the mint from his familymachogalleries.com and 2 more
  165. 1525Jakob Fugger paid for Charles V's election, and his heirs lost much of the fortune when the Spanish crown stopped payingEncyclopaedia Britannica and 7 more
  166. 1525Jakob Fugger fixed the Fuggerei's rent at one guilder a year in 1521, and the rent has not changed in 505 yearsblogs.loc.gov and 2 more
  167. 1524Vasco da Gama was ordered out of his home town of Sines in 1507 and asked to leave Portugal before the King made him a count in 1519Project Gutenberg and 4 more
  168. 1523The Knights of St John surrendered Rhodes in 1522, sailed away with 4,000 islanders, and rented Malta from the Emperor for a falcon a yearProject Gutenberg and 2 more
  169. 1521Magellan left a hereditary governorship to his son, but his wife and sons died, and his brother-in-law was still claiming the estate in 1540sevilla.2019-2022.org and 3 more
  170. 1520Spain and then Mexico paid Moctezuma's heirs for Tacuba lands until a 1934 decree, and a Spanish dukedom still carries his nameboe.gob.es and 4 more
  171. 1519Pedrarias Dávila had Balboa, his son-in-law by proxy, beheaded at Acla in 1519 for treasoneldebate.com and 4 more
  172. 1519Leonardo da Vinci's legitimate half-brothers cut him out of their father's estate, and his will still left them money and landTreccani and 2 more
  173. 1518Tradition says Hindus and Muslims fought over Kabir's body and found only flowers under the sheetsknagar.nic.in and 2 more
  174. 1517The Prophet's mantle and relics passed from dynasty to dynasty as proof of title, and the Ottomans shipped them from Cairo to Istanbul in 1517Encyclopaedia Britannica and 2 more
  175. 1510The eunuch who ran the Ming government was searched in front of the emperor, who found millions in silver and false sealsEncyclopaedia Britannica and 2 more
  176. 1509Ivan III crowned his grandson Dmitry as heir in 1498, then made his son Vasily heir and kept the grandson under guard until he died in 1509azbyka.ru and 2 more
  177. 1508Isaac Abravanel lost an inherited fortune in Portugal, offered Spain 30,000 ducats to stop the expulsion, and lost everything again in Naplesplato.stanford.edu and 3 more
  178. 1506Columbus's 1502 will disappeared while his descendants fought over the Veragua estate from 1578 to a final ruling in 1793revistas.ucm.es and 4 more
  179. 1506Columbus's heirs sued the Spanish Crown for 28 years over his promised tenth and viceroyalty, and settled for a dukedom and 10,000 ducats a yearEncyclopaedia Britannica and 4 more
  180. 1506Spain and the Dominican Republic both claim Columbus's body; a 2006 DNA test matched the Seville bones, and Santo Domingo refused testinghistorynewsnetwork.org and 4 more
  181. 1504Isabella of Castile's will made her daughter Joanna queen, and Joanna's father and son kept her locked in Tordesillas for 46 yearscapillarealgranada.com and 2 more
  182. 1503Pope Alexander VI built a state in central Italy for his son Cesare Borgia, and Cesare lost it after his father's deathProject Gutenberg and 4 more
  183. 1502The last Byzantine emperor's nephew signed his imperial rights over to the King of France in 1494 for 4,400 ducats a yearhfrir.jvolsu.com and 4 more
  184. 1500Hawaiian tradition says Līloa left the kingdom to his son Hākau and the gods to his low-born son ʻUmi, and ʻUmi killed Hākau and took the islandInternet Archive and 2 more
  185. 1500The Inca chose a 13-year-old girl for sacrifice a year before her death, fed her elite food, and gave her coca and alcohol until she died on Llullaillaconationalgeographic.com and 2 more